The video says it all, and confirms my suspicions. The S will be a pure battery electric replacement for the Grand Cherokee Track Hawk. It will not be a high volume model, IMO. The person in the video states the S will not have an IC engine alternative.The Recon will have a possibility of an IC option, but Jeep management hasn't committed to that project yet. We don't know what an ICE alternative for the Recon will be.
Today's powertrain alternatives are on a spectrum ranging from pure battery electric only EV, having an ICE as a range extender, PHEV, high voltage hybrrid, 48V mild hybrid, and a pure IC engine only at the opposite end of the spectrum. Ten years ago the CARB zerro emissions mandate was that only a few percent of vehicles sold in California has to be battery electric. Auto manufactures were able to meet this regulation by building compliance cars and offering them to the public with give away leases. The typical compliance car is an econobox subcompact or regular compact pulled off the assembly line and converted to battery electric. It was money losing, but the losses were manageable and considered part of doing business in California.
What are auto companies going to do when the mandates are 30 to 50% zero tailpipe emissions vehicles per year? Half the states are fighting federal mandates in a lawsuit, while the states which signed on to the CARB rules have half the US population. The lawsuit, if successful, will not affect the CARB mandates because that is a state's right issue.
